Method and apparatus for automatically creating musical compositions

Abstract

A music generation engine automatically generates musical compositions by accessing musical sections and corresponding properties including similarity factors that provide a quantified indication of the similarity of musical sections to one another (e.g., a percentage of similarity). A sequential relationship of the musical sections is then determined according to an algorithmic process that uses the similarity factors to assess the desirability of the sequential relationship. The algorithmically created musical composition may then be stored, such as by rendering the composition as an audio file or by storing a library file that refers to the musical sections. The created musical composition may include layers respectively having different audio elements such that the created musical composition has a first dimension along a timeline and a second dimension that provides a depth based upon the presence of different audio elements. The presence and absence of audio elements along the timeline can be based upon the value of an intensity parameter, which may be an intensity envelope that is predetermined or automatically generated based upon user specifications.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. § 119 of previously filed provisional patent application Ser. No. 60 / 781,603, filed on Mar. 10, 2006 and entitled “Pseudo-random Music Generator,” the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]1. Field of the Invention[0003]This invention relates generally to music generation and more particularly to automatically creating musical compositions from musical sections.[0004]2. Description of the Related Art[0005]It has been long known to automatically create new musical compositions from existing elements, ranging from simplistic compilations that string together potentially ill-fitting pieces to complicated algorithms that mathematically create progressions, melodies, or rhythms at various levels of granularity.[0006]Existing solutions have remaining inadequacies, particularly for users who are seeking to produce production quality music...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

These solutions typically are either too simple or crude to be useful, or do not offer the user adequate input as to how the music should be composed, both generally, and with regard to how the music may vary within a composition.

In that sense, there is both a lack of flexibility as to the potential variation within the composed music, as well as a lack of depth in the finished product.

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